NCAA On Demand website breaks single day record

March Madness is upon us and people who had to work on Thursday and Friday have seen the advantages of an Internet connection at work to keep up with the latest scores for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. CBS Sports and the NCAA have the statistics to prove it based on usage of the March Madness On Demand website on the first day of the tournament. On Thursday, the website had the largest single day of traffic for a live sports event on the Internet, with 3.4 million hours of live video and audio streaming consumed from 3 million unique visitors to the website.

The most watched game on Thursday was the double overtime BYU vs. Florida game which saw a 50% increase in viewing compared to the most watched game online during the first day of the tournament last year. The BYU vs. Florida game racked up 521k hours of video and audio streaming compared to 348k hours of streaming for the most watched game last year.

One feature of the website which seems to be a hit is the “Boss Button”. If you haven’t heard of this before, this is a button you can hit as the boss is coming around the corner so it’s not so obvious that’s you’re watching the tournament while you are at work. On Thursday, this button was hit an astounding 1.7 million times.

CBS Sports and the NCAA had a critical decision to make before they offered live streaming of games during the tournament. They could charge a subscription fee for access or they could rely on sponsors and advertising to generate revenue. Based on the traffic they have seen from the first day alone it seems they have made the right decision.

Besides the obvious advantage of the website, which is being able to watch games while at work, I’ve got to say the next best thing about it is the “Boss Button”. That’s not to say people should rely on it to really cover their butts. It’s clearly there as a lark. Really, the biggest disadvantage to using the “Boss Button” is that your boss is probably watching the tournament back in his office already so he already knows what the “Boss Button” looks like. The only chance anyone has is if your boss doesn’t like watching college basketball at all.

The nature of media is evolving as television networks must consider incorporating access to content not only through the TV, but online as well. It’s all about balancing coverage between the three screens which includes TV, computers, and mobile phones. This NCAA On Demand website is a great example of CBS Sports and the NCAA executing this plan effectively.